Dark Halves

Rob Beeton spends his days sitting behind a desk investigating patterns of household waste disposal in Hertfordshire. In the evenings he balances arguing with his wife with making silly voices for his infant son's cuddly toys. By night he sleeps alone in the spare room next to the wardrobe with the broken hinges while he wonders if the garage door will ever actually fix itself. Meanwhile, Lisa Curly works in a library in the most deserted fishing town in Scotland. The man she shares her life with spends more time on his boat than with her and the last time he touched her, the internet was still using dial-up connection. A few houses down the street her mother is dying of something that is most likely cancer, but the old girl refuses to get it diagnosed.

Rob and Lisa lost contact after leaving secondary school at sixteen, but, courtesy of the internet, found each other again and, more importantly, have been able to locate online those eight pupils who tormented them the most during their younger years.

With five dead and only three to go, Rob and Lisa's murderous revenge is nearly coming to an end. However, when the improbably-named Detective Peter Piccolo moves into the house next to Rob, something definitely appears amiss.

Is this the most surreal police sting ever contrived, or is it just an enormous coincidence for Rob and Lisa? Is Piccolo trying to be their friend, carry out some sort of undercover surveillance, or is he just an even bigger monster than the two of them combined? Either way, the brooding copper is a massive spanner in their works and something will have to be done if Rob and Lisa are going to literally lay the pasts to rest and move on with their lives.